Florida Football Insiders

David Njoku is Climbing Up Draft Boards

Former Miami Hurricanes TE David Njoku is showing why it made sense for him to leave school with two years of eligibility left. He is quickly climbing up the draft boards. Right now Scouts Inc on ESPN.com has him rated as the #13 overall prospect in the draft and the #1 tight end.

The 6’4 240 TE right now is clocked in at a 4.55 40 time, which is pretty solid for his size. It will be interesting to see what he does in the combine. If he does what many who have seen him do in person while at Miami and has a strong combine, it’s possible his position could move up.

Njoku has shown up on drafts boards from as low as the mid 40s pick which is early second round to a mid first round pick. If it stays around the later, Njoku could go to the Tampa Bay Bucs, making him a huge target right away for the young emerging Jameis Winston, who already has the superstar Mike Evans. That would be quite the combo.

Another Scenario we have seen is Njoku going to the New York Giants at 23.Clearly that would fill a major need for the Giants as they have been struggling to find an answer at that position for several years.

Either way, no matter how you slice it, it’s clear Njoku made the right decision to leave early. There’s no question he’s one of the highest rated TEs in this class. The only question is whether a team is going to select him ahead of Alabama’s O.J. Howard. Now Howard’s numbers in college aren’t earth shattering. That said it was when he made his plays and on what stage that opens people’s eye. That clutch factor could make the difference. Njoku is going to likely have scouts drooling at the combine if he performs well. He is known as a leaper, but if he saves his best for the combine, that could make the difference as to whether he’s the first TE taken or second.

Another intangible in Njoku’s favor is the success of Miami TEs in the NFL. From Bubba Franks to Jeremey Shockey to Greg Olsen to Jimmy Graham some say Njoku may be the best yet. There are currently seven active TEs that went to Miami. If all holds serve, it will be 8 in 2017, which is crazy to think that one school has 8 active TEs in the league.